Classical Best Versions
What Is The Very Best Version?
In a catalogue that lists over 200 recordings of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", and even 60 versions of Orff's "Carmina Burana", which is the very best?
With the help of Gramophone, Penguin Stereo Guide, BBC Music, and our own ears, we have put together the definitive guide to the popular classics.
Here are a selection of recommended recordings that should find a place in everyone's collection.
Displaying items 201 to 220 of 233
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Die Schopfung (The Creation) Sunhae Im (soprano) Jan Kobow (tenor) Hanno Muller-Brachmann (bass-baritone) Christine Wehler (alto) / Cologne Vocal Ensemble / Spering [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 25/May/2005 ] "A brisk, well-sung performance of Haydn's late choral masterpiece" Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine (June 2005) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Requiem Mass / Operatic Choruses Susan Dunn, Diane Curry, Jerry Hadley, Paul Plishka / Robert Shaw Chorale. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra / Robert Shaw [ Telarc Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 7/Mar/2004 ] "...the many felicities of the performance, not least the electricity of the choral singing and the consistency of the solo singing, add up to an exceptionally satisfying reading." Three Stars Penguin Stereo Guide |
HUMMEL
Hummel: Mass, Op 111 in D / Mass Op 77 in B flat major Susan Gritton (soprano) / Collegium Musicum 90 / Richard Hickox [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Nov/2002 ] 2003 Gramophone Magazine Award Finalist - Recording of the month - Gramophone (Dec 2002) |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Theodora (Complete Oratorio) Susan Gritton, Susan Bickley, Robin Blaze, Paul Agnew / Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh [ Archiv / 3 CD Box Set - released 14/Aug/2000 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1700-1760) - 2001 GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST - Baroque Vocal |
J.S. BACH
Cantatas, Vol.27 (Nos 5, 80, 115) Susanne Ryden (soprano) Pascal Bertin (counter-tenor) Gerd Tark (tenor) Peter Kooij (bass) / Bach Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki, director [ BIS / CD - released 1/Mar/2005 ] "If you've yet to sample the series, or are just collecting the highlights, this is definitely one to consider...this disc deserves to be the best selling of the cycle." (International Record Review June 2005) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Early Quartets, Op.18 Takacs Quartet [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 9/Mar/2004 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1761-1800) - "The Takács meet Beethoven the young Turk, bursting with ideas, and we are the better informed for listening in" - Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine (April 2004) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Late Quartets Opus 95, 127, 130-133, 135 Takacs Quartet [ Decca Records / 3 CD Box Set - released 12/Dec/2004 ] "Excellent recordings too: sonorous, and with well-judged sense of four-voices-in-one. It doesn't feel all risky to say that this is probably the finest modern set of these great quartets." (BBC) |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: String Quartets Nos 13 'Rosamunde' & 14 "Death And The Maiden" Takacs Quartet [ Hyperion / CD - released 2/Oct/2006 ] "a sense of drama and tensile strength underlines everything, even a movement as luscious as the Andante of the Rosamunde Quartet..." Gramophone Editor's Choce Awards issue 2006 |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet / String Quartet No. 2 Takács Quartet, with Marc-André Hamelin (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 25/Apr/2015 ] "Right from the very first bar I felt that these were going to be fine performances of these two Shostakovich works. The first movement of Quartet No.2 is played with vigour and forward thrust." (Recording of the Month MusicWeb April 2015) |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: String Quartet / Piano Quintet Takacs Quartet with Stephen Hough (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 30/Nov/2007 ] 'The Takács Quartet bring a huge sense of enjoyment to both the Piano Quintet and the String Quartet Op 51 No 2, and it's clear that this chamber music is being revelled in by its players as much as its listeners. Stephen Hough's playing -... |
JOHN TAVENER
Ikon of Light / Funeral Ikos / The Lamb / etc Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips, director [ Gimell / CD - released 10/May/2014 ] "Enjoying a close working relationship with Tavener at the time, The Tallis Scholars imbued these performances with a real sense of ownership and an innate feel for the graceful shaping of his chant-inspired lines" Gramophone Magazine Re-issue of the |
WILLIAM CORNYSH
Stabat Mater / Salve Regina and other works Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips, director [ Gimell / CD - released 25/Apr/2002 ] Penguin Guide - Rosette Recording |
JANACEK
Glagolitic Mass (with Kodaly - Psalmus Hungaricus, Op. 13) Tina Kiberg (sop) Randi Stene (mez) Peter Svensson (ten) Ulrik Cold (bass) Per Salo (organ) / Danish National Radio Choir / Charles Mackerras [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 10/May/2004 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) - "Mackerras's new version is of particular interest as it embodies another of the reconstructions that have been painstakingly made of Janacek's original intentions in different... |
Trio Fontenay
Brahms: Piano Trios 3 & 4 [ Teldec Apex / CD ] "The members of the Trio Fontenay, like other first-class chamber players, know how to meld into a unified, responsive ensemble without losing their distinctive timbres - the piano tone gleaming, well-supported piano tone, that of the violin... |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schumann: Cello Concerto (with Bruch-Kol Nidrei / Bloch-Schelomo) Truls Mork (cello) / Orchestre PhilharmonIque de Radio France / Paavo Jarvi [ Virgin Records / CD - released 6/Feb/2005 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) |
PYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY / ARNO BABAJANIAN
Tchaikovsky & Babajanian: Piano Trio Vadim Gluzman (violin), Johannes Moser (cello), Yevgeny Sudbin (piano) [ BIS SACD / CD - released 4/Oct/2019 ] "The playing is superb, Gluzman and Moser intoning the impassioned opening elegy [of the Tchaikovsky] with grave authority before Sudbin takes over with all his mercurial brilliance and the music takes flight...outstanding recording." - The Observer |
PUCCINI
Suor Angelica (complete opera recorded in 1957) Victoria de los Angeles / Fedora Barbieri / Rome Opera / Tullio Serafin [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 1/Jul/2009 ] Victoria de los Angeles's performance as Sister Angelica demands superlatives: 'it is in every way perfect, beautifully sung, infinitely touching, and free from the slightest suggestion of theatricality', wrote The Gramophone when this recording was... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 1956) Victoria de los Angeles / Jussi Bjorling / Robert Merrill / Lucine Amara / RCA Victor Orchestra / Sir Thomas Beecham [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 11/Apr/2007 ] Featuring Victoria de los Angeles and Jussi Björling in glorious form, the 1956 set ranks alongside the Callas De Sabata Tosca (Naxos 8.110256-57) as one of the greatest studio recordings of an opera ever made. |
![Strauss, (R.): Also Sprach Zarathustra / Tod und Verklarung [Death & Transfiguration] cover](https://images.marbecks.co.nz/_thumbnails/10109/10109893.jpg)
RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, (R.): Also Sprach Zarathustra / Tod und Verklarung [Death & Transfiguration] Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Andre Previn [ Telarc Classics / CD - released 16/Apr/2002 ] "Previn draws magnificent playing fromthe Vienna Philharmonic in powerful, red-blooded readings of the symphonic poems, and the recording is among Telarc's finest. Strongly recommended for anyone wanting this particular coupling, and enjoying... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony Nos 5 & 7 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 1/Jan/2002 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1801-1850) - ROSETTE (Highest Rating) Penguin Stereo Guide - 50 GREATEST RECORDINGS OF ALL TIME (No 2) BBC MUSIC |
